LECTURES AND ESSAYS EEAD AT INSTITUTES. 229 



and the older the sod the better; but in my rotation a sod only gets two years 

 old. I never have any well rotted manure, and as most of us have to use the 

 means and appliances that are at hand, without the aid of expensive fertilizers, 

 I haul out the manure made the previous winter — cleaning out my barnyard 

 and sheds thoroughly — spreading at the rate of about twenty loads to the acre, 

 covering about six acres. About the sixth or eighth of May we commence 

 plowing. I would say here that I like to run my sheep on my corn ground as 

 long as I can, feeding them night and morning. This makes me a little late 

 in planting, Avhich we do a little before the twentieth. The ground is plowed 

 eight inches deep, and well harrowed before marking. 



I plant in rows three feet nine inches apart. I have been raising the Smut 

 Nose for a number of years back, but lately have raised the small Yellow 

 Dent. I am not certain which of the two I like the better. On a rich, strong 

 soil, I think the Dent the best ; on a lighter soil would prefer the Smut Nose. 

 I do not like the larger growing kinds, as the large stalks make heavy work, 

 and the increase in bushels is mostly in the cob, and corn is what I am after 

 (I never sell corn), so the cob does me no good. We are now ready for plant- 

 ing. If I could have just three stalks to the hill I would like it, so we plant 

 from three to five kernels. As soon as our corn is up we plaster at the rate of 

 100 pounds per acre. We then commence to cultivate, the first time each way, 

 going once in the row, as I like to break the crust as soon as possible, which, 

 by this time, conies on the surface. We now keep two horses going almost 

 continuously twice in the row each way, crowding closer to the hill as the corn 

 grows large enough to take the dirt. The number of times we may have gone 

 through the corn has nothing to do with my requirement of a well cultivated 

 field of corn. It is cultivate early and often. 



By the time clover hay is fit to cut our corn ground is in good shape for the 

 corn to grow. There are always two or three days before harvest in which we 

 manage to run the cultivator through each way, when the corn will take care 

 of itself. I don't want a horse in again at any price. 



After harvest I look through my field. Some years I find there is some wild 

 buckwheat, and sorrel, occasionally some pig- weed growing in the hill ; such 

 was the case last summer. My twelve-years-old boy and myself, with each a 

 hoe, would take five rows, passing back and forth, cut up, cover, pull up, or 

 let alone, just as was needed, going over the field in a day and a half. When 

 our corn was cut up there was perhaps as many weeds in the field as would 

 grow on two square yards. 



Our corn is now ready to cut, which I always do near the ground. I think 

 a good deal of my corn fodder, so try to save it in as good condition as possi- 

 ble. We commence to cut as soon as the corn is well glazed. I always put 

 forty-nine hills in a shock, seven each way, as I think a good sized shock is 

 less liable to blow down than a smaller one. It leaves the stalks in a better 

 condition, having the least amount exposed to the weather. Our corn when 

 in shock stands in rows each way, so that in husking we take two rows along, 

 hauling four shocks to a center, making one pile of corn. We save our seed 

 corn as we husk, selecting those ears that come nearest the type of the kind of 

 corn we are raising, which usually are not the largest ears. We leave a few 

 husks on seed ears, which as early as possible are plaited and hung in the barn. 

 Seed corn treated in this way never refuses to grow. 



In conclusion, I find I have told you nothing new. The essentials in raising a 

 good crop of corn are : The ground in good condition, and thorough cultivation 

 early in the season. Some farmers want their corn hoed. I don't think it 



